Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection

Summary

Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection is a pinball video game developed by FarSight Studios and published by Crave Entertainment for Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3,[1] PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360,[1] and Nintendo 3DS. Players play on a variety of classic virtual pinball machines from Williams Electronics' history. The Williams Collection follows the previous title, Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection.

Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection
North American Wii cover art
Developer(s)FarSight Studios
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)Nintendo 3DS
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 3
PlayStation Portable
Wii
Xbox 360
ReleasePlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii
  • NA: February 26, 2008
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
  • NA: September 22, 2009
Nintendo 3DS
  • NA: September 23, 2011
Genre(s)Pinball
Mode(s)Single-player, local multiplayer

The game was released by System 3 in PAL territories on June 17, 2011 as Williams Pinball Classics. This title should not be confused with Williams Pinball Classics (2001) by Encore, Inc. that features four machines (Creature from the Black Lagoon, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Black Rose and Lost World) for Windows.[2]

Gameplay edit

All machines are available at the start of play, but some require players to use credits. The player begins the game with 20 credits and earn more by obtaining specials and accomplishing various goals on each machine. For 100 credits, players can buy any of the locked machines for free-play mode. Completing the five goals for any machines also allows players to unlock a locked machine.

Other unlockable options include the ability to use custom-textured pinballs, play a left-to-right inverted (Mirror Mode) version of the game, and disable tilt detection. Flipper control remains intuitive in Mirror Mode, with the left trigger controlling the left on-screen flipper. Side-specific features of some games, such as Lane Change, move to the opposite side of the machine.

In the Wii version of the game, the player uses the trigger buttons of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to activate the flippers. The machine can be bumped or shifted with the motion sensors in either the Remote or Nunchuck. The resulting motion is proportional in magnitude and identical in direction to the controller's motion. This allows skilled players to use just enough motion to perform advanced ball saves without triggering the tilt mechanism, just as can be done on a physical machine.[3]

Machines edit

Table Year Platform(s)
Wii and PSP PS3 and 360 PS2 3DS
Black Knight 1980 Yes Yes Yes Yes
FunHouse 1990 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Gorgar 1979 Yes Yes Yes Yes
PIN•BOT 1986 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Space Shuttle 1984 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Taxi 1988 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Whirlwind 1990 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Firepower 1980 Yes Yes Yes No
Jive Time 1970 Yes Yes[a] No No
Sorcerer 1985 Yes Yes No No
Tales of the Arabian Nights 1996 No Yes[b][1] No No
Medieval Madness 1997 No Yes[b][1] No No
No Good Gofers 1997 No Yes[b][4] No No

Notes edit

  1. ^ Unlockable.
  2. ^ a b c Uses a dot-matrix display.

Reception edit

Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection received "positive" and "mixed or averages" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[5][6][7][8][9][10] The Wii version was nominated for Best Graphics Technology for the Wii by IGN in its 2008 video game awards,[19] while the PSP version was nominated for best PSP game of 2008 by GameSpot.[20] Gamasutra named The Williams Collection the third most overlooked game of 2008.[21]

Soundtrack edit

The soundtrack of this game features the following songs:

  • "Full Throttle" — Eric Barnett
  • "Premonition" — Chris Kline
  • "Let Go" — Brett Rakestraw
  • "Flipper Frenzy" — Jeremy Fannon
  • "Maelstrom" — Don Madison
  • "Depeche" — Nelson Everhart
  • "Blast Off" — Damien Harrison
  • "The Weezered" — Jim Watson
  • "Arcade Jam" — Chris Kline
  • "Oracle" — Chris Kline
  • "Pinball Dreams" — Chris Kline
  • "In the Groove" — Chris Kline

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "CRAVE Entertainment Announces E3 2009 Showcase Lineup," GameZone (May 29, 2009).
  2. ^ "GameGenie.com: PC Game Reviews - Williams Pinball Classics". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
  3. ^ E307: Hands-On With Wii Williams Pinball
  4. ^ "Day 2 E3 2009 - Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection Hands on Demo / Gameplay Video," Game Tactics (June 16, 2009).
  5. ^ a b "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (3DS)". Metacritic. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  6. ^ a b "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (PS2)". Metacritic. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  7. ^ a b "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (Wii)". Metacritic. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  8. ^ a b "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (PS3)". Metacritic. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  9. ^ a b "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (X360)". Metacritic. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  10. ^ a b "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (PSP)". Metacritic. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  11. ^ "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (Wii)". IGN. March 14, 2008. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  12. ^ a b "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (PS3/XBOX360)". IGN. March 14, 2008. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  13. ^ "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection Review". GameRader. March 24, 2008. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  14. ^ a b "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection Review". GameRader. October 12, 2009. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  15. ^ "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (PS3)". GameSpot. September 23, 2009. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  16. ^ "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (PSP)". GameSpot. September 23, 2009. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  17. ^ "Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection". Nintendo Life. April 5, 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  18. ^ "Pinball Hall of Fame - The Williams Collection". Nintendo World Report. April 5, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  19. ^ "IGN Wii: Best Graphics Technology 2008". IGN.com. 2008-12-18. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  20. ^ "GameSpot Video: Best of 2008 Platform Awards". GameStop.com. 2008-12-25. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  21. ^ "Gamasutra's Best Of 2008: Top 5 Overlooked Games". Gamasutra.com. 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2009-01-03.

External links edit

  • IGN Game Profile